Wayne Rooney gave his first interview of the World Cup. 'The big man is back in town' was said to be Rooney's bold declaration after returning from that scan in Manchester, and he was keen to make his presence felt again. How did it feel to have the hopes of a nation resting on his muscular young shoulders? 'No problem,' he said.

More determined than anyone, however, was Sven Goran Eriksson. No longer a Swede with ice flowing through his veins but an England coach with an inferno raging in his belly.

OK, so he occasionally wears lifts in his shoes to make himself appear taller. But it was time for Big Phil to get a taste of Big Sven, big salary and all.

If he stopped short of naming his team and then predicting the score in Saturday's quarter-final against Portugal, he remained unusually candid by his own cautious standards.

He went on the front foot (if only his team would do the same), dismissing Spain and Holland despite their attractive play and threatening to do whatever he thought necessary to win the tournament.

'Where are they now?' he said of Spain, Holland, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. 'Home. That's where!'

Eriksson normally waits until the eve of a game to address the media, so his appearance yesterday was something of a surprise. Angered by the criticism he has received? Most likely. Determined to score points against his nemesis in the anglo-Portuguese PR contest? Most definitely.

At times he almost sounded like Scolari. Who cares how England win the World Cup?

'I couldn't care less if I'm criticised,' he said. 'I've heard it for 30 years. Every time you lose a football game something is wrong with the manager.'

The accusations have come thick and fast in the last few days, with Eriksson carrying the blame for the quality of England's football. Do his team lack guidance? Does his tactical mind lack clarity?

'If we have only one system you will ask "where is the plan B"? and if we have two systems you say we don't know which way to play,' he said. 'We can use two systems, but don't tell me I don't know what to do. I know exactly what to do. Of course I have a clear vision. We all have.'

Yesterday's training session probably pointed to what he has in mind for the weekend. He expects Luis Figo to replace the suspended Deco as Portugal's playmaker and will ask Owen Hargreaves to return to the holding midfielder role.

If Eriksson continues with a five-man midfield, Rooney will continue as lone striker. 'I'll play wherever I'm asked to play,' said Rooney. 'It's not a problem for me.'

'I don't think it is a one-man band'

Far more confusing for Rooney are the number of other Rooneys grabbing the headlines. On Tuesday it was Josephine Rooney and her much-publicised council tax protest and yesterday Rooney was asked about a long-lost uncle called Martin Rooney who was said to live here in Germany.

According to an interview with the German television station ARD, Uncle Martin left England in 1972 and is a philosophy professor at the university of Bremen. Not something you would expect of that particular family and not something which registered any more than a raised eyebrow when the 20-year-old was asked about it yesterday.

A Football Association spokesman insisted Martin was no relation and was not about to join the other family members at the Brenner's Park Hotel. Understandably, Rooney was interested in talking only about football and the responsibility he carries into the game against Portugal.

Even after more than two years on the international stage, Rooney remains an adolescent in an adult's body, someone who seems too young to be saddled with such a burden.

'There's pressure on every player in the squad,' he said. 'It's a team game and we need everybody to come in and do a job.

'But I believe I can recapture the form I showed in Portugal two years ago. There's still more to come from me in this tournament. In every game, in every training session, I'm getting better.

'I don't mind playing up front on my own or in a two. I'll play wherever the manager tells me. As long as the midfield players keep making runs it isn't a problem. I don't think it is a one-man band. I don't think the team think I will win the World Cup on my own. If you look at the games I was out, they were winning and playing well.'

But, oh, how they wanted him back. 'Most of the England lads rang me to see how I was,' he said. 'It was nice they all cared and wished me a speedy recovery.

'There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be here. It was a bad time for me to get injured. As soon as it happened I knew I had done something bad. But once I got the news that I'd broken my foot, I had one day off and then I went back in and started working. I was training. I was doing everything I could to keep myself fit.'

Fit and ready for Portugal. Two years ago his quarter-final ended prematurely when he broke his foot and he watched the penalty shootout England then lost from a Lisbon hospital. Now, however, he is determined to make more of an impact. A big impact.